This Spot Taken

It's dawg eat dawg out here in the West. I GOTZ to git me uh new hat! In the meantime ah dun peed on several creosote bushes. 

I'ma gonna try drinking coffee again. It's been almozt two years.

I needed a measuring cup. It does double-duty as a filter holder. 

I keep the katsup handy in case somebody stops by with some fries.

Wickenburg

Ambling about.

Vehicles in middle distance.

In town, Katie & Mike gave us a tour of the newly renovated Chamber of Commerce building. Once the train depot, they're standing beside the scale used to weigh the freight as it passed from the loading platform onto the train.

Katie Davidson & Michael Wallace

Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce

The conference table was crafted from extra floor boards.

Lucky Day In Wickenburg

The microphone on my new Pixel 6 quit working so I went into Wickenburg to get it looked at. 

This was the 1st day of the Rodeo Arts & Crafts Fair and, counting on my Lucky Herrmann luck, I turned into the public parking across from the fair. The lot was full, but as I exited to the street a car 10 feet away pulled off, leaving their vacated spot for me.

At the Verizon store, I left it with Kaleb Pitts while I went to the fair. 

At the fair I discovered the most unique jewelry at the end of an aisle dominated by ATV rental companies and commercial products. When I inquired about the reason for their location she said they'd applied late. In addition, because they had some items made by other artists, they were ineligible to be among the "Completely Hand Made" group.

I found an administrator of the show who asked me to show her the booth. As we made our way she told how she'd had double knee replacement & needed to go slow. Pausing to rest, she added that one of the knees had become infected and had had to be re-replaced. That was four years ago and I could see her knees were still swollen. 

Asking her to wait a moment, I went & got a bottle of Dragon Spray from the car. After telling how to apply, I related the tale of its discovery. 

As a Marketing Analyst at University of New Mexico Press, I wore a suit and tie and dress shoes. One day at karate class when the instructor blocked my front kick, I broke a couple of toes. At work the next day I was politely informed I couldn't come to work wearing only one shoe. As a new hire, I needed a solution and found it at The Herb Store where Edgar Chase sold/sells his miracle jow. Jows are traditional Asian analgesics/curatives used in the martial arts community; their formulas are closely-guarded secrets. That evening I spritzed my foot and in the morning was able to put on my shoe.

As we walked to the booth  she told how she'd just taken over the administration of the show and had never done anything like it before. I told of Michelle's and my trip to DEEP ELUM "cutting-edge" art fair in Dallas where there we vendors selling lawn chairs and commercially-made hummingbird feeders. I said I understood the need for quality control but....

She looked at the work and met the vendor. As we walked back she thanked me for bringing the situation to her attention. 

Back at the Verizon store, Kaleb had discovered the microphone was clogged with dirt. He'd sprayed it with cleaner and blown it out with compressed air. I gave him $10.00. He gave me a bottle of cleaner & a NEW can of compressed air.

Now aside from the parking place's miraculous appearance, here's the best part...I'd scheduled the ultrasound of my aortic aneurysm back in December. Since then plans changed but when I tried to reschedule they told me they were full up & scheduling for Spring of 2023. But today when I called they had several openings to choose from. Lucky Herrmann!

Wickenburg Trestle

The gap between the hills was a mere flash. I turned around and waited 'til the 5-o'clock flash-flood of commuters had had their way.

I tried cropping to emphasize the trestle's smallness, but ended up leaving it original. This is merely a memento, at least until they invent the camera that can produce a lifesize hologram.

The red-on-yellow PROPANE $2.89! sign was not to be ignored. I pulled into the RV Park and up to the propane dispensor as he was lifting himself from the chair. As I came to a stop he said, "I was just leaving. But for you..." I rejoined, "Bless yer heart!" and we commenced.

He asked how long my tank lasts me and in explaining it depends on the number of baths and/or gourmet dinners I cook - and he might wanna stay upwind -- I mentioned the catalytic heater was giving out. He told how one of the residents repairs them and he thought it easy. 

I may give it a try, but given that I'm continually surprised at seeing the toilet paper where I left it after settling on the throne, I'm not overly confident of getting it re-assembled.

 

Tres Alamos - North of Wickenburg

About halfway between Wickenburg and interstate 40 (up north) on highway 93, the Tres Alamos Wilderness beckoned. It's classic Mojave Desert. Beautiful in its starkness, especially when everything is celebrating Spring.

Has anyone ever captured the incredible lustre?!!

By mutual agreement, Yvonne and I cancelled our meetup.

I headed west.

Doing The Math

Maybe it's cuz I'm now the olde guy at the head of the group holding it up. Or maybe there're just more people out here. According to Technomadia it's the latter, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find places where I can piddle my way along without feeling like I'm to blame for everyone being late.

So with that in mind, all I'm gonna say is Arizona's the place to be at the moment. The cacti and creosote are blooming and temps are just about perfect. And since this is more of a Web Log, a reminder for me of where I was when, I gotta add that Rock House Grocery appears to have closed, but the folks across the street have some of the best water I've had in a long time.

Airing the Linen

Landsailing, Meandering

I made it to the America's Cup landsailing event at Ivanpah Lake in California. Billed as the Yachting Event of the Year, I was disappointed. The majority of "boats" could only, with generous beneficence, be called anything but dinghys. The few larger vessels lacked ornamentation, originality of design and generally added to the overall boredom. There was a nice breeze, but I only saw two women.

Fortunately, the third-annual Literary Festival in Wickenburg is next weekend.  Hope springeth eternal.